Police investigate burglary attempts

North Strabane Township police are telling residents to be on alert after one home was entered and an attempt was made to break into another residence Monday afternoon.

A burglar who forcibly entered a home in the 200 block of Christy Road just before 2 p.m. may have been scared off by an alarm system, said township police Lt. Dan Levi. Police were at that scene when they received a report from a resident of the 600 block of Linden Road that a man tried to force his way into her home about 2:30 p.m.

At the Christy Road residence, the burglary pried open a rear garage window. The culprit entered the home when the alarm was apparently activated.

“We believed that is what scared the burglar off,” Levi said. “Nothing was missing.”

Canonsburg and South Strabane Township police assisted in securing the perimeter while the inside of the house was searched.

Police then received a call from the Linden Road resident who reported a man was trying to get into her home. She told police that the would-be intruder tried to open the front door and then walked around the back of the house and tried the rear door. He then walked down a stairwell and tried to open the basement window.

“She then yelled at him out the window,” Levi said. “He walked to the top of the steps and didn’t give her a reason for being there.”

She told police the man, who was white, in his mid-30s, dressed all in black with nothing covering his face or head and carrying a black backpack, then ran in the direction of Wilson Road. She did not see a vehicle.

The woman called police at 2:59 p.m. but said he had been at her home about 30 minutes earlier.

Levi said what happened on Linden is not unusual.

“They will knock on the door first to see if anyone is home,” Levi said. “The resident on Linden said that last week, someone came to her door and told her caregiver that he had been involved in an accident and was looking for his puppy. This is an indication he may have been looking for a house to break into.”

Levi advises that if you’ve received a suspicious visit, immediately call 911. Anyone who recently had such a visitor, saw a man dressed in black near the area of Linden and Wilson or saw suspicious activities at the scene of either homes is asked to call 724-746-8474. If there is no answer, Levi asks the caller leave a message.